By Jamiu Abiola
In the United States, the world watched in bewilderment as the bizarre actions of overzealous opposition supporters unraveled, after the victory of President Joe Biden. So positive and negative commentary are part of the democratic process.
However, it is not the bitter remarks of those who failed to emerge victorious that matter, but the actions of the winner after inauguration that would count. And after knowing you for almost 30 years I know for a fact that even your rivals and their supporters will be pleased by your actions, and will struggle to dispute the fact that destiny has determined you as The Chosen One.
It would be disingenuous of me to claim that I knew you one-on-one at the inception of the June 12 struggle. But as fate would have it, 1997 put an end to that. Following my mother’s assassination, your visit to our home in the United States was among the memorable ones that positively impacted at a crucial time in our lives. Amidst the demoralizing struggle and engulfing darkness, your motivating presence made my siblings and I visualize the possibility of a light at the end of the tunnel.
After that episode, you invited me and my brother Lekan to your house, and we were introduced to Pa Adesanya and someone else; who had been wrongly arrested in connection with my mother’s assassination. You treated them with so much warmth and respect which reinforced my belief that indeed you are a compassionate man.
Another deed that touched my heart during those very dark days was something your wife, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, did in 1998. I had just started working at the World Bank and once she became aware, and despite her busy schedule managing a chain of petrol stations in the United States, she found time to speak to a Mrs Lawani; Nigerian wife of a World Bank topshot, to have her husband serve as my mentor. This is a gesture I can never forget because it was my first job; especially considering I was just 22 and extremely nervous. It is indeed true that behind every successful man there is a woman.
Then after the demise of General Abacha along with my late father, I met you once again in Nigeria. By then you were already campaigning to be the governor of Lagos State. We would go around in my then ordinary car (my driver still speaks highly of you), and visit various people – some of whom have sadly passed away, like ‘Settle Mother’ of Allen Avenue. Even way back then, my youthful mind was certain you would be a good leader like Otto von Bismarck of Prussia. As we traversed, I remember you primarily spoke about the poor and vulnerable, and the plight of the oppressed and suppressed. I was stunned. It was as if I was listening to my father again; when he used to complain about why any Nigerian should go to bed hungry, or angry because of hunger.
By the time you finally became a governor and I felt that you would be too busy to have time for people not in power like me, you surprised me less than 50 days into your tenure.
On the day of my wedding on the 17th of July, 1999, you did not only organise a plane to take me and my relatives to Borno, you asked your then Chief of Staff, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the current Minister of Information, to come to my house and make sure I was ready by 6:30am, and by the time we got to the airport, you were already there! When I asked you how you were able to arrive so quickly, you said that you decided to sleep in your Alausa home so that people at the Marina Government House would not delay your plans. To you something like that might not have been a big deal, but to someone orphaned by the struggle for democracy it meant the whole world. Shortly thereinafter, we were joined by the wonderful and affable Governor Olusegun Osoba, and we all boarded the plane on a 2-hour journey.
My plan had been to go with Nigerian Airways, which judging by its frequent delays at the time, might have meant getting to my own wedding 48 hours late. That day, unknown to you, I did a special prayer for you and Governor Osoba in the plane. And when we got to Borno and I saw a crowd of hundreds of people at the airport with dozens of cars awaiting our arrival, I repeated my prayer for the both of you again.
As a result of the monumental development you brought to Lagos State, coupled with my gratitude for what you did for me, and how you immortalized my mother’s memory, I joined the APC Media Group set up by both you and your running mate Senator Kashim Shettima. In addition, my elder and younger brothers, Lekan and Abdul, both joined the Tinubu/Sanwo Olu Campaign Team and the Presidential Campaign Council respectively.
However, putting sentiments aside, there are so many indicators of the purposeful leadership that lies ahead for Nigeria under your watch: throughout the campaign many people did not take note of a special quality that makes both you and your deputy stand out. Up until now many have failed to understand that governance is a continuum, and the reason many of those in leadership positions have continually failed is not only because they were unable to pick a solid team during their tenure, but their inability in nominating appropriate successors. Today, it is on record in the history of Nigeria that both you and Senator Kashim Shettima did not only choose the best team to work with you, but also nominated the right successors who picked solid teams after you. The contemporary reality is that not many Nigerians in leadership positions are able to achieve this feat. As we speak, former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and current Governor Babagana Umara Zulum remain shining examples to emulate in excellent resilient purpose-driven governance, and strong evidence that government performance is hinged on decisive succession plans.
I can go on and on about other factors that have made me so optimistic about the future of Nigeria. And as I told you as far back as 2018 at your home in Abuja and Senator Kashim Shettima at his home in Abuja in 2023, I will write a book about you just like I wrote one about my father. My father’s was entitled “The President Who Never Ruled”. However, yours will be about a president who did rule. In addition, I will personally translate it into Arabic, French, Spanish, German and Italian to ensure the widest coverage. The book shall be embedded with the following message:
Those best equipped to make democracy work are those who fought for it when the battle was fierce and when the odds pointed at a humiliating defeat. In this regard, I would like to point out that while your battle for democracy extended beyond military rule to ensure that there was an opposition to the ruling party in post-1999 Nigeria, your deputy, Senator Kashim Shettima, was battling to keep democracy alive in Borno State.
Against all odds, he managed to deliver democratic dividends in his state threatened by anti-democratic forces (the infamous Boko Haram) determined to overrun the state.
President-Elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, you were on the right side of history, the side of my father and mother. Not as a follower but as a partner entitled to retrieve the mandate stolen exactly 30 years ago. A man like you was not born to walk in anyone’s shadow: you are The Chosen One.
On behalf of the Father and Mother of Nigeria’s most recent Democracy, late President Moshood Abiola and Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, and all my siblings (Lekan, Hafsat, Khafila, Moriam, Abdul and Hadi), I wish you a fruitful and peaceful reign that would earn you and your deputy a place in heaven; which is the ultimate goal, and what really matters when the ephemerality of life manifests.
God Bless The Federal Republic of Nigeria
- Jamiu Abiola, the Shettima Rasheed of Borno, is one of the children of Bashorun MKO Abiola, the winner of the annuled 1993 Presidential election.